Episode Archive

The guest is Dianne Aigaki, a botanical artist and consultant for nonprofit organizations worldwide, who
lives between India, Tibet and Mexico. She moved to Dharamsala, India at the foot of the Himalayas in 1996, and began working as a volunteer consultant for the Tibetan Exile Government.

Instead we'll hear host Crystal Leighty speaking with writer Ann Hood about her latest novel "The Red Thread," an exploration of the adoption process, specifically the adoption of Chinese girls by five couples in Providence, Rhode Island, brought together by the Red Thread Adoption Agency.

Anna Soderberg hosts a round table discussion on sustainability and the ins and outs of cloth diapering with guests Jennifer Fuentes from Milagros Baby Boutique; Brian Godula from The Potty Pail; Tara Jablonski, mother of four; and Cynthia Thompson from Zoom Baby Gear and President of The Real Diaper Association.

THE GIRLS OF MURDER CITY: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago

Host Lisa Loving interviews Portland writer and editor Douglas Perry about his new book, THE GIRLS OF MURDER CITY: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago. The book a history that simultaneously presents the freewheeling spirit of the age and its sober repercussions.

Host Marianne Barisonek interviews Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish: The Future of the Last WildFood. Greenberg says that when he learned that farmed seafood is now just as prevalent as wild seafood in the marketplace, he realized that the interplay of domestication and wildness is one of the most important issues going on with fish today. Choosing which fish will be our domesticated "seafood" will have huge ramifications for our species and for the planet.

Host Michelle Shroeder Fletcher interviews Irene Tinker, Professor Emeritus University of California Berkeley about her new book, "Crossing Centuries," a memoir that captures a pivotal moment, 1953, when East Africa was on the road to independence.

Kilong Ung, author of the memoir, "Golden Leaf, A Khmer Rouge Genocide Survivor," speaks about his life and his incredible journey from the Khmer Rouge killing fields to the Rotary Club of Portland and the fellowship of the Royal Rosarians, through minefields, rockets, bullets, refugee camps, and Reed College. The term "golden leaf" means a survivor of a heinous act against humanity, especially genocide.

Audio

My guest is Christopher Ryan, co author with Cacilda Jetha of Sex at Dawn - the prehistoric origins of modern sexuality.

The standard narrative of modern human sexuality features a male-dominated ruling class supported by nuclear families each founded on monogamous mating.

Jetha and Ryan show that the monogamy model is very different from how humans lived before agriculture and from our genetic - preconscious expectations.

This conflict between how we evolved to behave and what society has come to expect of us, argue the man and woman co-authors, is destructive to individuals, families, society as a whole and even the robustness of our offspring.

Dr Ryan discusses the evidence against the standard narrative of human sexuality and the evidence for a more humane myth of what we have evolved to be.

Our discussion is disorganized into three sections.observation of humans in our time - both domesticated and uncomparison of humans with other apes and anatomical evidence all pointing towards a more promiscuous and egalitarian past.

While some parts may be embarrassing, an objective understanding of our evolved sexuality can only help bring peace among the humans..

The standard narrative of modern human sexuality features a male-dominated ruling class supported by nuclear families each founded on monogamous mating.

Jetha and Ryan show that the monogamy model is very different from how humans lived before agriculture and from our genetic - preconscious expectations.

This conflict between how we evolved to behave and what society has come to expect of us, argue the man and woman co-authors, is destructive to individuals, families, society as a whole and even the robustness of our offspring.

Dr Ryan discusses the evidence against the standard narrative of human sexuality and the evidence for a more humane myth of what we have evolved to be.

Our discussion is disorganized into three sections.

observation of humans in our time - both domesticated and un

comparison of humans with other apes and anatomical evidence all pointing towards a more promiscuous and egalitarian past.

While some parts may be embarrassing, an objective understanding of our evolved sexuality can only help bring peace among the humans..

The guests are members of the Chiapas Photography Project (CPP) which currently hosts 2 Maya women photographers and the director of the project in the Portland area for lectures and workshops. Their photos offer a privileged look at family, home and village life today. Their lectures and workshops build cross cultural understanding while encouraging pride in ethnic identity.

The Chiapas Photography Project provides indigenous Maya people in Chiapas, Mexico with opportunities for cultural and artistic self-expression through photography. Since 1992, over 300 indigenous men and women from different ethnic groups and religious backgrounds have learned how to use photography as a mode of personal artistic expression, and many have undertaken projects that celebrate and engage members of their communities.

CPP is based in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, the commercial and cultural center of the Chiapas Highlands. The Project’s activities are both local and global in scope. CPP photographers have exhibited their work in their own towns, as well as in museums, galleries, and alternative spaces throughout the world. CPP also provides educational workshops and presentations, which educate diverse audiences about how the Project uses photography as a means to share and celebrate indigenous cultures.

The Chiapas Photography Project has gained recognition from the Mexican, American, and international press, the academic community, and the art world. As CPP has gained a global presence, it has provided opportunities for volunteers and professional photographers from around the world to work with indigenous photographers.

CPP adapts to the always-evolving photography environment, incorporating new technology, while respecting the varied conditions and preferences of those who participate in activities.

Host Kathleen Stephenson interviews HelenaNorberg-Hodge, the internationally renowned environmentalist and leading critic of conventional notions of growth and development. She is the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the alternative Nobel Prize. She is founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture and author of "Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh.

Helena Norberg Hodge talks about the upcoming Portland screening of her documentary film "The Economics of Happiness" on October 14th. The screening is a fundraiser for the Earth and Spirit Council. The "Economics of Happiness" depicts a world that, on the one hand, continues to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. But at the same time it shows the movements of people around the world who are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance—and, far from the old institutions of power, they’re starting to forge a very different future.

Also part of the interview is Linda Rudnick, a board member of the Earth and Spirit Council.

Join the Earth and Spirit Council for a special fundraising screening of The Economics of Happiness, a documentary about the worldwide movement for localization by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick & John Page, held at The Hollywood Theatre at 7 pm on Friday, October 14, 2011.

A groundbreaking statement about ecological decline, suggesting a radical change in how we think about consumer goods, value, and ways to live. In True Wealth, economist Juliet B. Schor rejects the sacrifice message, with the insight that social innovations and new technology can simultaneously enhance our lives and protect the planet. Schor shares examples of urban farmers, DIY renovators, and others working outside the conventional market to illuminate the path away from the work-and-spend cycle and toward a new world rich in time, creativity, information, and community.

Juliet B. Schor is a bestselling author, professor of sociology at Boston College, and cofounder of A New American Dream, an organization devoted to transforming North American lifestyles to make them more ecologically and socially sustainable. She lives in Newton, Massachusetts.

A Washington state Muslim group has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate alleged anti-Islam bias in FBI trainings of law enforcement officers and regular citizens.

In a letter mailed Monday to the department's civil rights division, the Washington Council on American-Islam Relations accused the FBI of trainings that including "false, misleading and fear-producing information."

The letter lists a number of complaints about FBI trainings, including one in Seattle last spring, where participants at a "citizens' academy" at the FBI office said they were given a handout comparing Arab/Islamic propaganda with Nazi propaganda.

The complaint also mentioned an FBI training lecture in Washington, D.C., also last spring that was critical of Islam. The bureau employee who gave the lecture contended, among other things, that the more devout a Muslim is, the more likely he is to be violent. The lecture came to light last month, at which time the FBI said it has begun a review of its training to make sure it is consistent with FBI standards.

A Muslim-American woman who participated in the Seattle training said she was surprised by the handout because everything else about the eight-session "citizens' academy" had been respectful.

The FBI in Seattle has issued a statement saying the agency is currently conducting a comprehensive review of all training and reference materials that relate to religion or culture.

Host Sue Supriano speaks with Jan Spencer, organizer of the Northwest Permaculture Convergence, which will be held October 13 - 16 in Portland and the Columbia County Fairgrounds [St. Helens]. The theme is "Finding Common Cause."

Jan Spencer has lived in New York, Texas, Arkansas and Oregon. He has travelled out of a back pack to over 35 countries over 5 years on four continents. Highlights of his life include living two years in a rural commune in the Arkansas Ozarks, backpacking in the Ruwenzori Mountains of western Uganda, surfing at Raglan, New Zealand, painting adventures by bike in Italy and his current suburban permaculture project in Eugene. Jan's interests include geography, global affairs and art. He is a self described weather and climate enthusiast.

Urban land use, economics, permaculture, human potential, spirituality, global relations and the environment combine for a unique fusion of Jan's interest. His presentations are upbeat, positive and entertaining including elements of scholar, social critic and stand up comedian.

Jan has made presentations in numerous towns in Oregon, Washington State, the Bay Area, Austin, Texas and Eugene. Venues and hosts have included neighborhood meetings, civic organizations, churches, Grange Halls and conferences such as the Eco City World Summit, Bioneers, Environmental Law Conference and National Co Housing Conference in Seattle.

Articles Jan has written have been featured in The Permaculture Activist, Talking Leaves, Architecture Week, Sentient Times and numerous guest opinions in the Eugene Register Guard. He has made radio interviews in Oregon, Washington State and Florida. He self published “Global Trends – Local Choices” and is working on a fiction novel Eugene – 2035.

Finally, Jan has become a pioneer and advocate for suburban property conversion. His ¼ acre site in Eugene, after ten years, convincingly shows what a suburban property can become. It features grass to garden, rain water catchment, reclaiming automobile space, passive solar re design, edible landscaping and much more. The implications of suburban property conversion are immense touching on economics, human potential, the environment and eco culture change.

Host Gene Bradley speaks with Emma Marris, author of "Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World." In her book Marris interviews leading scientists and environmentalists and visits imaginary Edens, designer ecosystems, and Pleistocene parks. She contends that we must replace our desire for an unattainable Eden with a more practical dream: a global, half-wild, "rambunctious garden" planet, tended by us.

Benjamin Ross and Steven Amter tell the story of how the chemical industry, abetted by a compliant government, set loose a plague of pollution that began in the years before and directly following World War II, a plague that still lingers today. The advent of new synthetic chemical products such as Nylon and DDT created new hazards just as the expansion and mechanization of industry exacerbated old ones. Environmental dangers well known today — smog, pesticides, lead, chlorinated solvents, asbestos, and even global warming — were already recognized in that era by chemists, engineers, doctors, and business managers. A few of them spoke out about these dangers, others overlooked scientific truth in pursuit of wealth and prestige, and many struggled to find a balance between the interests of industry and the needs of the wider world.